When President Bush came into office six years ago, he vowed
the Southern Hemisphere would be his top foreign policy priority. But that was
before September 11 and the war in Iraq. Now he wants to woo back Latin
America.
Can the President overcome his widespread unpopularity in the region? Can he
offset the growing influence of regional leftists like Venezuela’s
Hugo Chávez? Marc Cooper guest hosts.

FROM THIS EPISODE

When President Bush came into office six years ago, he vowed
the Southern Hemisphere would be his top foreign policy priority. But that was
before September 11 and the war in Iraq. Now he wants to woo back Latin
America.
Can the President overcome his widespread unpopularity in the region? Can he
offset the growing influence of regional leftists like Venezuela’s
Hugo Chávez? Marc Cooper guest hosts.

President Bush is visiting Brazil,
Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala
and Mexico
this week, carrying with him a complicated economic and trade agenda. But after
keeping Latin American issues on the back burner for six years can he
effectively compete with rising radical leaders like Hugo Chávez? September 11 and then the war in Iraq got in
the way of Bush’s promise to focus US foreign policy on Latin America. Now, he
faces a series of what promises to be some massive and noisy protests in a part
of the globe where he’s deeply unpopular. Guest host Marc Cooper speaks with
journalists and experts in energy, foreign policy and national security. (This program was originally broadcast
earlier today on To the Point.)